BBC looking into allegations of sexual abuse against nine employees

The BBC has been rocked by more allegations of sex abuse. The organization is investigating allegations against nine current staffers, as well as the claims against Jimmy Savile.

Savile, who died last year, was a children’s television star on the BBC. He had allegedly abused underage teens over decades. The BBC’s Newsnight program did a report on the abuse allegations in December, but when it did not air, critics believed that a cover up was going on. Newsnight editor Peter Rippon announced that he would step aside Monday while that is being investigated.

According to The AP, there are now victims who say that other BBC employees had abused them. Director-general George Entwistle told lawmakers that it is investigating “between eight and 10” current and past employees.

The BBC’s press office later confirmed that there were nine employees being investigated. It stated that many of the cases occurred years ago, but the victims did not come out until the Savile scandal went public.

Entwistle admitted that there is “a problem of culture within the BBC ... a broader cultural problem” which enabled Savile’s crimes to continue for decades without any actions being taken.

“There is no question that what Jimmy Savile did and the way the BBC behaved ... will raise questions of trust for us and reputation for us,” he explained. “This is a gravely serious matter, and one cannot look back at it with anything other than horror.”

Reuters reports that Entwistle also denied reports that there were attempts to cover up the Savile case. While he did tell lawmakers that it was wrong for Rippon not to include the Savile report, he said, “I've been able to find no evidence whatsoever in the conversations I've had, and in the documents we've now pulled together, that any kind of managerial pressure to drop the investigation was applied.”